New years eve!

Jan 1, 2017
2 min read

Well, we had a very nice New years eve with just our small family last night!The custom in South America (I don't know if it's in all Latin America countries, or just South America) is to burn effigies or statues to bring in the new year. There can be many meanings and traditions to that, starting from just having fun, to a symbol of starting anew in the new year, all the way to believing that it brings good luck to burn an effigy of someone who has wronged you in the last year! They have many different types of effigies, from homemade ones with old clothes and stuffed with newspaper and cardboard (as was ours) to elaborate painted people or characters made out of newspapers pasted on to a wooden frame and painted ( anywhere from lightning mcqeen to hulk!) Some barrios even get together and build one in the middle of the street, complete with a wooden hut and whole families or scenes enacted out with the dolls. It can be pretty amazing!!

Especially with the boys being so small, we had a very simple evening, where they took some of my old clothes (yes, they burned me to bring the new year in :-/ ) and then we stuffed them with cardboard and old paper and tied him (aka me) up out front by the fence! We ended up burning the doll at 10:00, as the boys were tired, and then watched as some of the neighbors sent up floating lanterns into the night sky. It was a very peaceful and relaxing time to spend as a family, and even though I had to hold Esteban as he cried in his sleep because of the fireworks that went off at midnight, I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

In the rush and bustle of life, and especially of the ministry that we do, it is so important to make every moment count, and to spend as much time as possible with our families. I am indeed grateful to God for my family, and treasure them dearly!!